If No One Will Listen

[Louise_2983]

I love reading all the speculation when I'm the only person who knows which of you is right

[jdoddy]

How about you stop reading and start writing eh?!!?! (jokes)

by your tone of typing are we to assume someone has got close to the true identity of said blonde Liam 'worshipper'

[bradyell]

OK, just re-read and had time to think about this and added to the comments i'm thinking....

Maybe it's not Nicole!!

I have my theories as to who else it could be

it did cross my mind that Aden is a familiar blonde but you wouldn't go there would you Louise!!!!!

[Louise_2983]

  jdoddy said:

How about you stop reading and start writing eh?!!?! (jokes)

by your tone of typing are we to assume someone has got close to the true identity of said blonde Liam 'worshipper'

Well who could blame her really, I'd worship him anyday...unless Aden was offering, then he'd definitely be my religion

And lmao Ellen, we think so much alike I so nearly replied saying how do people know it's not Aden?

I may not be updating for a few days as I have work and a family funeral so decided to put those of you who want to know out of your misery. DO NOT highlight if you do not want to be spoiled and please put any comments in spoiler tags if you're going to comment on it...soooo sneak peak:

  Reveal hidden contents

"I changed your sheets" he mumbled, his deep brown eyes apologetic as he slid into the plastic chair across from her and leant forward on his elbows.

"I should think you did!" she huffed still unimpressed with his recent behaviour.

"I'm sorry" he told her sheepishly.

"That was really out of order"

"Look Liam, if you and Chelsea want to get back together and have mad passionate make-up sex then I have no problem with that, we're just friends you can do what you want but please do it somewhere other than my bed!"

So there you go, no one guessed the "worshipper's" true identity

[jdoddy]

That's all well and good to give a spoiler warning before a sneak peek but ensure you have the entire peek in spoiler tags lol

edit: my bad - computer malfunction.

edit 2: we will be waiting for when you update again - hope all goes well and stuff

[Symphony]

LOL you caught us out well and good there, Louise! I love how we all jumped to entirely the wrong conclusion - should know by now that with you, things are never quite what they seem!

hope your next few days are ok; sorry to hear of a loss in the family

[Red Ranger 1]

  Reveal hidden contents

Ah, Chelsea!Didn't get that at all.The only other names that flitted through my brain were Claudia, Aden and Roman.At least one of whom would have been a one-way trip to therapyville.

So, who did Nicole see in the house?Geoff?

[Louise_2983]

  Red Ranger 1 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

So, who did Nicole see in the house?Geoff?

  Reveal hidden contents

All will be revealed next chapter!

[Symphony]

[pokes at and whines]

next chapter nowww?

[looks hopeful]

[Louise_2983]

Chapter 11

“Nicole?” he questioned with a smile as he heard the front door open and she strutted into the kitchen, looking prettier than he ever remembered her having been before.

“Yeah, it’s me Dad”

“Nice dress” he teased her softly as she flung open the fridge door and stuck her head inside in an attempt to find something appetising to distract herself.

“That shade of blue really suits you”

“Thanks” she smiled as she bit into a juicy, dark strawberry and its ripe, crimson juice splurted down her hand.

“Hold on a minute” she gasped as she turned to look at him, her eyes locking with his.

“How did you know it was blue? Oh my GOD! You can see! How? When? Why?” she cried, a beaming smile spreading wide across her cheeks.

“Are you serious?!” she laughed in disbelief waving her hand in front of his face frantically.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“One question at a time Nic” he laughed as her hand continued to hover in mid air before him.

“This morning, three fingers and let’s just say that it had something to do with Gardy making me jump off a bridge”

“He did WHAT??!!”

“Relax!” he ordered as her blue eyes bulged in horror.

“I had a parachute and his tactics worked didn’t they?”

“Maybe they did but I don’t trust him, you’ve been acting really weirdly since he showed up”

“Since before he showed up” her father sighed regretfully.

“I know that and I’m sorry. I haven’t been there for you when you needed me. Not that that’s anything unusual really is it?”

“Were you really willing to stay?” she questioned in a hesitant whisper.

“And Mum sent you away?”

“She told you that?” he asked in surprise at Natalie’s uncharacteristic bout of honesty.

“So it is true” Nicole mumbled.

“She told you to go”

“She did what she thought was the right thing at the time Nic” he told her, looping his arm around her soothingly.

“Just like you’re doing now. We were kids and we made some mistakes, some big mistakes, but you turned out all right in the end you know?”

“You think?” she asked, her lips curving into a tiny smile.

“Yeah, I might even love you”

“I love you too Dad” she grinned contently as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“Your Mum said she suggested that you go back to live with her and you said no because of me. I can see now Nicole, there’s nothing to stop you leaving if you want to” he told her sincerely.

He didn’t want her to go but if it was what she wanted, and needed, he didn’t want her to stick around out of some sense of moral obligation to him.

“I don’t want to” she told him with a soft smile as she cuddled closer to him.

“We only really just got to know each other and in a few months I’ll be off to uni, I want to make the most of the time we’ve got Dad. I want to stay here, with you...if I’m still welcome of course”

“Always welcome” he grinned, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I went to Geoff’s today” she blurted out suddenly, their closeness tearing down the defensive walls she usually had raised.

“To tell him that I wanted to be part of Angelica’s life”

“Nic, that’s...” he didn’t complete his sentence, not knowing how to as he scanned her pretty face. She didn’t look happy or sad. She merely looked confused.

“I didn’t go through with it” she clarified in a whisper.

“He wasn’t there and I waited for him but...”

“What stopped you?”

“Aden” she told him, a low chuckle escaping over her glossy lips.

Instantly his eyes narrowed, his face consumed by suspicion.

“I thought you two had done with all that!”

“We have! Don’t look so worried!” she hurried to calm his rage.

“He just turned up in breach of his “Belle told me to stay away so I’m going to” policy”

“And that made you chicken out?” he asked in confusion.

“Yeah” she nodded with visible uncertainty.

“Because when we talked about it we realised that neither of us were really sure about what we were doing. It’s killing Aden not being able to see Belle and he had turned up to tell he that but he knew

deep down that all he was going to do was cause her unnecessary stress and that he needs to wait for her to come to him, he has to stay away”

“And you?”

“I just want to do what’s best for Angelica” she murmured with a deep sigh.

“As much as I want to see her, hold her and be her mother right now I’m not sure that I’m 100% committed to that and until I am, if I ever am, it’s wrong of me to put myself forward as being so. So we

left. Aden went to vent his frustration at the gym and I we-”

“Went for a cry by the looks of it” Roman told her as he softly brushed her raw, tear stained cheeks with his thumb.

“Pretty much” she nodded with an embarrassed smile. Now he had his sight back there was no hiding anything from him.

“Nic” he sighed her name like a lullaby as he hugged her closer.

“It’s just really difficult to know what to do Dad and I think that no matter what I decide on as being the right thing there’s always going to be a niggling doubt in the back of my mind, haunting me”

“Nicole, don’t get angry with me for asking this. I’m not angry and I’m not blaming you but I just need to know. Did you really have no idea that you were pregnant? Because I hate the thought that you

knew and you couldn’t come to me, that you just struggled with it alone. I want you to know that you can always come to me”

“I really didn’t know” she told him feeling slightly stupid for her nine months of blissful ignorance.

“But if you think I’m going to get all sentimental and tell you that of course I would have come to you if I’d have known then think again! I probably would have ended up giving birth in a caravan or

something!”

“So I may have overreacted about the whole you and Aden thing” he confessed with a sigh.

“But I was at my most vulnerable Nicole and he took advantage of the situation”

“He didn’t take advantage!” she protested adamantly.

“I was a willing participant not that I really want to discuss that with my Dad! We were vulnerable too, you were making life really difficult for us and even though we knew you didn’t mean to it was still

really tense around here. And then there was Belle and Geoff...or the lack of them. All we really had was each other and we made a mistake...it really was a mistake”

“I know, I let him move back in here didn’t I?”

“But you’re still treating him like Judas at the Last Supper!”

“Wow a religious reference!” he mocked her playfully.

“Geoff really rubbed off on you didn’t he?”

“Shut up!” she laughed, unable to think of a more cutting insult as she slapped him playfully.

Roman sighed softly as he tenderly rubbed her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

“You’re my little girl Nic. I didn’t do much to look after you when you were growing up so you’re going to have to cut me a little slack if I overcompensate a little for it now”

“A little?! Dad you do realise that you’re not going to be able to make every guy who ever touches me street homeless don’t you?”

“That’s what you think!” he teased her softly.

“I’m already working on how to get Irene to throw Geoff out!”

“Whatever!” she giggled as the door opened and Aden walked in.

“Ah here’s my favourite disciple now”

“What?” he asked confused as he dumped his gym bag by the door and joined them in the kitchen.

“Nothing. Dad can see!”

“What?! Seriously?”

“Seriously” she nodded as Aden looked as Roman for confirmation and the older male simply nodded.

“Gardy pushed him off a bridge apparently” Nicole continued to explain.

“It would have been nice if it had been the other way around but...”

“Nicole!”

“Well I can’t help it Dad! I just don’t like him! He’s really strange”

“I have to say I agree with her” Aden dared to comment.

He’d been tiptoeing around Roman ever since he’d moved back in, keeping quiet and mostly out of his way but he was as concerned about Gardy’s effect on Roman as Nicole was and he wasn’t going to

leave her to deal with it alone.

“But that’s great news that you can see again Roman”

“Thanks mate and I’m sorry, I know I haven’t been the easiest person to live with and I should never have just thrown you out like that...”

“I’m the one who should be apologising!” Aden instantly objected.

“The minute you took me in, which you did not have to do, you made the rules perfectly clear and I broke them. I’m sorry for all of it you didn’t need the extra stress I caused”

“Mate” Roman shook his head softly at Aden’s words.

“You’ve been a good friend to Nicole these past few weeks and I wouldn’t have blamed you for running a mile after the way I reacted”

“Ok we get it!” Nicole interrupted bluntly as she looked back and forth between them.

“You’re sorry and you’re sorry too. Hell even I’m a little bit sorry! Wonders will never cease I know! Now can we please just put this all behind us and go back to how things were before?”

“We can try” Roman nodded with a smile.

“As long as everyone sticks to their designated bedrooms”

“It wasn’t always in the bedroom”

“Nicole!” Roman scolded her.

“Sorry but I’m going to let this stuff slip if we don’t just let it drop completely”

“Let’s consider the matter well and truly dropped then” Roman told them, shuddering as he tried to shake the images she had just planted in his mind.

“I knew that would work” she grinned triumphantly before looking up at them both.

“Now...group hug?”

Aden and Roman both smirked at her cheek before replying in unison.

“Don’t push it princess”

***

She was oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the busy diner around her as she sat at a corner table with her mobile clutched in her hand. She pressed the arrow keys constantly, scrolling up and down her address book pausing every time it came around to him again and his name was illuminated before her, her fingers itching to press the dial button.

She wanted to talk to him, to at least hear his voice. His deep, husky, unintentionally seductive voice. She toyed with the idea of ringing just to hear him say hello before hanging up but the existence of caller id told her that was a stupid idea.

She missed him like crazy and all she had to do was call him and he’d be there. She knew that. She was the one who’d pushed him away not the other way around. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let him back in when the pain he had caused her still soared through her with every heartbeat.

She wanted to tell him everything. To tell him about meeting her Dad because she was sure he would be the only person who would ever understand. She’d tried to discuss it with Annie but the words wouldn’t trip over her tongue and she had just bottled it all up instead. Annie wouldn’t understand, she’d always known who she was. Aden knew what it was like not to have a parent for most of your life and he definitely knew what it was like to be disappointed by one.

Scrolling down from Aden’s name she flicked through the alphabet until she came to the letter R. It would be so easy to call or text him instead, to get something to help her forget the confusion, rejection and sheer disappointment which she was feeling.

"I changed your sheets" he mumbled, his deep brown eyes apologetic as he slid into the plastic chair across from her and leant forward on his elbows, bringing her back to the real world.

"I should think you did!" she huffed still unimpressed with his recent behaviour.

"I'm sorry" he told her sheepishly.

"That was really out of order"

"Look Liam, if you and Chelsea want to get back together and have mad passionate make-up sex then I have no problem with that, we're just friends you can do what you want but please do it

somewhere other than my bed!” she told him in a slight strop.

“Or Irene’s house for that matter! It could just have easily been Annie or Geoff who walked in on you!”

“Well that’s why we moved from the sofa” he smirked cheekily.

“I considered Geoff’s room, after all it’s every guys dream to have a naked supermodel in his bed, even if he’s not in it. But I figured Geoff’s not every guy...”

“It’s not funny!” she snapped, slapping him on the shoulder in annoyance.

“Geoff’s already freaked out because I had to tell him that Russell’s been leaving me freebies. He’s convinced he’s going to somehow spike Angelica’s bottle or start targeting Annie! The last thing I need

is for you to cause more trouble, what happened to not even knowing that you were there?”

“Like I said, I’m sorry I really do mean that” he told her, sincerity shining in his eyes.

“Well I guess I won’t have to worry about it now anyway if you’re back with Chelsea. You’ll be moving out right?”

“We’re not back together” he told her confidently.

“She freaked out afterwards. She said that just because our relationship works sexually it doesn’t mean that it works any other way and she’s right. Our marriage is over, it wasn’t make up sex it was

break up sex. All there is between us is Ash now”

“Is she going to let you see him?”

“Not until I can prove that I’m well and truly off the drugs” he sighed, flicking the phone she had placed on the table between his fingertips.

“You’ll get there I know you will” she smiled softly.

“Well at least someone believes in me”

“Annie believes in you” she teased with a wide grin.

“Oh you noticed that too?”

“Yes so be gentle with her please!”

“She’s a good kid, I like her” he told her with a soft smile.

“It’s really nice how close you two are”

“Yeah, I feel like we’ve got a lot closer lately” she mirrored his grin.

“She completely freaked out at first when it came out about the drugs, her and Geoff even went as far as moving out, but since the overdose she’s been really supportive. Well you saw for yourself how

often she came to visit me in rehab...”

“You know she’s just trying to secure her place in heaven right?” he teased as the table shook beneath their hands, her phone buzzing as it bounced around the table, the screen flashing incessantly.

“Annie’s place in heaven has already been secured by a little gold plaque with her name on for a very long time” she grinned as she rejected the call and her phone stopped vibrating.

“The good stuff she does on earth now, it’s just like getting reward points on her supermarket loyalty card! She gets to swap them for a higher carat of gold in her halo and silk robes instead of cotton!”

He laughed as her phone began to ring once more, the same name flashing on the illuminated display as a few seconds before.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” he asked as she watched her phone like it was a ticking bomb.

“No” she replied dubiously as she continued to stare and made no move to reject the call.

“You know you want to talk to him Belle”

“Maybe I do” she confessed quietly as she reached out her index finger and rejected the call with the single push of a button.

“But I told him I needed him to give me space and to wait until I was ready and he’s not doing that”

“I know you miss him...”

“Of course I miss him” she whispered softly.

“Before all this happened he was the most important person in my life and now he’s not even in it any more. But maybe that’s for the best”

“Physically maybe”

“What?”

“He’s not in your life physically but I know you still think about him all the time” he told her knowingly as her phone began to ring once more.

“Persistent isn’t he?” Liam laughed softly as she sighed.

“If you don’t answer that then I will”

“Fine!” she moaned grabbing her mobile and pressing it to her ear.

“What do you want Aden?” she snapped only to be greeted by a frantic, unexpected but familiar voice on the other end of the line.

“Woah! Woah!” she exclaimed as Liam looked on in confusion.

“Geoff is that you? Calm down! I can’t understand a word that you’re saying. Why are you on Aden’s phone? Has something happened to him?” her heart plummeted into the depths of her stomach as

every possible horrific, and fatal, scenario ran through her head.

“Is she with you?” Geoff asked her, slower this time so she could understand.

“What? Is who with me?”

“Angelica, please tell me she’s with you!”

“Geoff why would she be with me? You had her the last time I saw her, please don’t tell me you’ve lost your own baby?!” she questioned him in horror as she heard him gulp loudly.

“I fell asleep" he cried in anguish.

"I fell asleep and she was there and when I woke up she was gone...”